"Vathek, the ninth caliph of the Abassides in Arabia, ascends to the throne at an early age and reigns with an iron fist, inspiring terror and unrest among his people. His intense thirst for knowledge (which makes him feel more powerful) and his constant desire for pleasures of the flesh will ultimately lead to his downfall. When he purchases mysterious glowing swords from a strange merchant, he learns the swords have inscriptions and powers he cannot...

Our story begins in 1902, at the Brookhants School for Girls. Flo and Clara, two impressionable students, are obsessed with each other and with a daring young writer named Mary MacLane, the author of a scandalous bestselling memoir. To show their devotion to Mary, the girls establish their own private club and call it the Plain Bad Heroine Society. They meet in secret in a nearby apple orchard, the setting of their wildest happiness and, ultimately,...

The Howards don't know who I really am, but I'm learning all their secrets.
It seems like the perfect job. The wages are great, and accommodation is provided within the walls of an actual mansion. Not many little girls dream of becoming a maid, but this is an opportunity for me to get back on my feet. And to revisit my past...
But the strict housekeeper, Mrs Huxley, watches my every move, emerging from the

...

"Marian and her sister Laura live a quiet life under their uncle's guardianship until Laura's marriage to Sir Percival Glyde. Sir Percival is a man of many secrets. Hence, Marian and the girls' drawing master, Walter, have to turn detective in order to work out what is going on, and to protect Laura from a fatal plot"--NoveList.

First published in 1852, "The Blithedale Romance" is the third of Nathaniel Hawthorne's romantic novels. Set in the utopian communal farm called Blithedale in the 1840's, the novel tells the story of four inhabitants of the commune: Hollingsworth, a misogynist philanthropist obsessed with turning Blithedale into a colony for the reformation of criminals; Zenobia, a passionate feminist; Priscilla, a mysterious lady with a hidden agenda who turns out...

"When Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore dies, she's not only North Carolina's richest woman, she's also its most notorious. The victim of a famous kidnapping as a child and a widow four times over, Ruby ruled the tiny town of Tavistock from Ashby House, her family's estate high in the Blue Ridge mountains. In the aftermath of her death, that estate--along with a nine-figure fortune and the complicated legacy of being a McTavish--pass...

First published in 1799, Charles Brockden Brown's "Edgar Huntly, Or Memoirs of a Sleep Walker" is the story of its title character, who upon learning of the death of the brother of his friend and love interest, Mary Waldegrave, visits where he died in the woods in rural Pennsylvania. There he discovers a man, Clithero, a servant from a nearby farm, suspiciously lurking about near the scene of Waldegrave's murder. Suspecting Clithero, Edgar begins...

First Published in 1860, "The Marble Faun" is the last of the four major romances written by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne. Published shortly before the beginning of the American Civil War, it is a romantic and fantastical tale set in an imagined Italy and revolves around the love lives of the four main characters: Miriam, a beautiful and mysterious painter, Hilda, an innocent and morally upright copyist, Kenyon, a gifted sculptor, and Donatello,...

The Damnation of Theron Ware (1896) is a novel by Harold Frederic. Inspired by his upbringing in Utica, New York, The Damnation of Theron Ware is a story of faith, community, and rural life from an underappreciated master of American realism. A bestseller in the year of its publication, the novel has earned praise for its criticism of cultural and religious hypocrisy in nineteenth century provincial life. "No such throng had ever before been seen...

Still reeling from the chaos of their wedding, Evelyn and Richard arrive on a tiny Greek island for their honeymoon. It's the end of the season and a storm is imminent. Determined to make the best of it, they check into the sun-soaked doors of the Villa Rosa. Already feeling insecure after seeing the "beautiful people," the seemingly endless number of young models and musicians lounging along the Mediterranean, Evelyn is wary of the hotel's owner,...